Serena back in winning business, Nadal survives scare

PARIS: Serena Williams made a winning return to Grand Slam tennis which was as memorable as her body-hugging black catsuit when she reached the Roland Garros second round on Tuesday.

The 36-year-old downed Kristyna Pliskova of the Czech Republic 7-6 (7/4), 6-4 to register her first victory at the majors since her 2017 Australian Open triumph.“I missed Roland Garros so much, I missed the battle,” Williams, the 2002, 2013 and 2015 champion in Paris, said after playing her first clay court match since finishing runner-up to Garbine Muguruza in the 2016 final on the same Philippe Chatrier Court.

Williams, the winner of an Open era record 23 Grand Slam titles, had arrived at Roland Garros with just four matches under her belt in 2018.The last time she had been spotted on a court was in a first-round loss to Naomi Osaka in Miami in March.

Having been off the tour to give birth to daughter Alexis Olympia Ohanian in September, many in the sport wondered if Williams would still be a contender at the majors especially with her ranking at 451.

However, she gave a stinging response to the doubters on Tuesday even if her win over the 70th-ranked Pliskova tested the American.Arriving on Philippe Chatrier Court in a black catsuit, Williams saved a break point in the 12th game to send the opener into a tiebreak.

Williams then trailed 0-3 before eventually taking the set when Pliskova, who had never won a match at the tournament in three previous visits, put a forehand wide.The three-time champion fell 0-2 behind in the second set and was forced to retrieve another break to level at 4-4.

As she served for the match, she slipped into the net, righting herself sporting an embarrassed smile.She saved three break points in an eight-minute-plus 10th game before taking victory, setting up a second-round clash with Australia’s Ashleigh Barty.

The only consolation for Pliskova, the twin sister of world number six Karolina, was finishing with 15 aces, the most hit against Williams since such records began to be kept in 2008.Earlier on Tuesday, Rafael Nadal racked up his 80th French Open win, while Maria Sharapova battled back from a final set deficit to reach the second round.

Nadal, the 10-time champion, defeated Italian lucky loser Simone Bolelli 6-4, 6-3, 7-6 (11/9).World number one Nadal had been two sets up but 0-3 down in the third when rain caused the tie to be suspended late Monday.

He quickly levelled at 3-3 on Tuesday, saved four break points in the eighth game before saving four set points in the breaker.The top seed eventually claimed victory on a third match point when Bolelli dumped a forehand into the net.

Nadal, bidding for an 11th title in Paris and his 17th major, next faces Argentina’s Guido Pella for a place in the last 32.“I really suffered today but it was a good test,” said Nadal who had been in danger of dropping his first set at Roland Garros since his 2015 quarter-final loss to Novak Djokovic.

Two-time champion Sharapova survived a serious scare to claim a 6-1, 4-6, 6-3 victory over Dutch qualifier Richel Hogenkamp, ranked 130, in her first French Open match since 2015.The Russian was not given a wildcard by organisers for the tournament last year, which took place shortly after her return from a 15-month doping suspension.

Sharapova, the 28th seed, will face Croatia’s Donna Vekic in the second round.The 31-year-old, five-time major champion, took just 24 minutes to win the first set of a match which was delayed from Monday due to thunderstorms, but threw away a 3-1 lead in the second.

Sharapova was staring down the barrel of falling at first hurdle in a Grand Slam tournament for the first time since the 2010 Australian Open when trailing 3-0 in the third, but the former world number one dug deep and reeled off six straight games to edge into round two.

The Russian, who was Paris champion in 2012 and 2014, fired 35 winners in her victory on Court Suzanne Lenglen.Third seed Marin Cilic reached the second round with a 6-3, 7-5, 7-6 (7/4) win over Australia’s James Duckworth.

Wimbledon and Australian Open runner-up Cilic, 29, fired 47 winners and 13 aces past the 1,072nd-ranked Duckworth who was playing his first match since the 2017 Australian Open.Canadian teenager Denis Shapovalov eased to a 7-5, 6-4, 6-2 victory over Australian John Millman in his first ever main-draw French Open match.

The 19-year-old, who lost in Roland Garros qualifying last year but is now the 24th seed, will next take on German world number 70 Maximilian Marterer for a place in the last 32.Third seed and 2016 champion Garbine Muguruza defeated 2009 winner Svetlana Kuznetsova 7-6 (7/0), 6-2.Spain’s Muguruza next faces French wildcard Fiona Ferro, ranked 257, for a place in the last 32.